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Sunday, May 1, 2011

Libyans Aren't Fooled By Gaddafi's Clownish Propaganda

I wish to put the record straight: we are a proud nation but we are people of moderation, and we don't believe his ridiculous PR

By Amal al-Leebi
This commentary was published in The Guardian on 01/05/2011

What do the following have in common: drug dealers, al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden, misguided youth, tribal leaders, Nescafé, hallucinatory pills (Tramadol), the CIA, al-Jazeera, the BBC, America, Israel, Denmark, Qatar, the Libyan diaspora, stray dogs, cats, rats and cockroaches?This is just a snippet from the list of culprits that the Libyan government wants you to believe are responsible for the recent violence in Libya.

Over the last two months we have seen the feeble attempts of the media arm of the Libyan regime try to disseminate pro-Gaddafi propaganda and enhance its stature both abroad and with Libyan civilians via the state television.

State TV broadcasts hours of talk shows every day inviting guests to talk about the current situation. They often have zero insight into the atrocities being committed and some well-known guests have even claimed that dead saints and demons fight amongst the ranks of Gaddafi's forces.

The Libyan TV anchor Hala Misrati is one of many of the regime's public faces who spew this sensationalist rubbish. Her recent highlights include a claim that al-Jazeera cameraman Hassan Ali Jaber, the first journalist to be killed during the conflict, was murdered by al-Jazeera itself. She also delivered a 10-minute tirade claiming Eman al-Obeidi was a prostitute and interrogated the captured Syrian journalist Rana Alakabani live on air for daring to mention on her tapped cellphone that she had to queue up for bread.

It seems that with every attempt to improve their public stature, they stumble over themselves even further – which is a shame considering that they have previously received expert consultancy from one of the world's leading PR firms. The Libyan government throughout this saga has shown itself to be incoherent and inconsistent.

For Libyan citizens, any actions or even thoughts that divulge from the party line are regarded as thought crime. Thought police (also known as the revolutionary guards) would punish such deplorable actions by taking those responsible to Room 101 never to be seen again. If we take the Orwellian analogy further, one can see parallels between Gaddafi and the dictator/pig in Animal Farm.

Then there is our favourite clown: government spokesman Musa Ibrahim.

According to him, the Libyan regime was planning a new constitution, political reform, free elections and a democracy. During an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, we saw him claim that Libyan revolutionaries are drugged up with hallucinatory pills. State TV even went further and tried to show evidence which turned out to be Tramadol – a drug whose side effects include drowsiness and constipation. Only this week, Musa Ibrahim showed his blind allegiance to Gaddafi by claiming that not even God can choose Gaddafi's future in Libya.

There still seem to be some who see a political future for the Gaddafi family in Libya, such as Saif Gaddafi's former associate Benjamin Barber. His call for "dialogue" ignores the root of the problem which is the Gaddafis themselves. When confronted by gangs of mercenaries, rapists, torturers and murderers using child soldiers intent on the destruction of everything and anyone in their path, there is little room for negotiation.

Others are choosing to jump on the Libyan media bandwagon by claiming that the revolutionaries are being controlled by al-Qaida cells and Islamic extremists. If Abdel Bari Atwan, the editor-in-chief of al-Quds al-Arabi, wishes to make such sensationalist comments, he should back them by evidence.

I wish to put the record straight on Libya as I see it. Libya is a largely conservative country in comparison to some of its Arab neighbours. Libyans are highly educated. They reject extremism in all its forms.

We have been subjected to the extremist Gaddafi rule for a period that spans over six decades. It is not desirable for Libyans to let extremism of any kind sabotage the revolution, whether this is political, religious, liberalist, military or otherwise. We are a Muslim, Arab, Libyan nation and we wave our banner proudly, but we are a people of moderation.

The time for negotiation with Gaddafi ended the moment that he started shooting at peaceful protesters in Benghazi on the 15 February. The blood of Libyan citizens has been spilled before the world's eyes, and although this is not the first time Muammar Gaddafi has done so in the last 42 years, this time Libyan citizens cannot pretend to continue to live their normal lives under his rule – and the citizens of the world cannot do this either.

The tide has finally turned against Gaddafi, and the waves of freedom are lapping up the shores of Bab al-Azizia, his stronghold in Tripoli. Despite this, Gaddafi's government only wants to send you this message: don't believe what you see, don't believe what you hear, just believe what we tell you to believe.

About Me

I graduated from the French University in Beirut (St Joseph) specialising in Political and Economic Sciences. I started my working life in 1973 as a reporter and journalist for the pan-Arab magazine “Al-Hawadess” in Lebanon later becoming its Washington, D.C. correspondent. I subsequently moved to London in 1979 joining “Al-Majallah” magazine as its Deputy Managing Editor. In 1984 joined “Assayad” magazine in London initially as its Managing Editor and later as Editor-in-Chief. Following this, in 1990 I joined “Al-Wasat” magazine (part of the Dar-Al-Hayat Group) in London as a Managing Editor. In 2011 I became the Editor-In-Chief of Miraat el-Khaleej (Gulf Mirror). In July 2012 I became the Chairman of The Board of Asswak Al-Arab Publishing Ltd in UK and the Editor In Chief of its first Publication "Asswak Al-Arab" Magazine (Arab Markets Magazine) (www.asswak-alarab.com).

I have already authored five books. The first “The Tears of the Horizon” is a love story. The second “The Winter of Discontent in The Gulf” (1991) focuses on the first Gulf war sparked by Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait. His third book is entitled “Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: From Balfour Promise to Bush Declaration: The Complications and the Road to a Lasting Peace” (March 2008). The fourth book is titled “How Iran Plans to Fight America and Dominate the Middle East” (October 2008) And the fifth and the most recent is titled "JIHAD'S NEW HEARTLANDS: Why The West Has Failed To Contain Islamic Fundamentalism" (May 2011).

Furthermore, I wrote the memoirs of national security advisor to US President Ronald Reagan, Mr Robert McFarlane, serializing them in “Al-Wasat” magazine over 14 episodes in 1992.

Over the years, I have interviewed and met several world leaders such as American President Bill Clinton, British Prime Minister Margaret Thacher, Late King Hassan II of Morocco, Late King Hussein of Jordan,Tunisian President Zein El-Abedine Bin Ali, Lybian Leader Moammar Al-Quadhafi,President Amine Gemayel of Lebanon,late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, Late Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat, Haitian President Jean Claude Duvalier, Late United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan,Algerian President Shazli Bin Jdid, Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Siyagha and more...